System and method for message notification based on text modification

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and methods are disclosed for enabling a telecommunications terminal to notify its user of the arrival of a message via an acoustic or visual signal whose properties are based on attributes of the message. A network infrastructure element (e.g., a switch, a private branch exchange [PBX], a server, etc.) receives a message directed to a terminal and sets the values of ringtone properties (e.g., tempo, volume, pitch, rhythm, etc.) based on attributes of an incoming message (e.g., the sender, a priority, a subject, the location from which the message was sent, etc.). In a first illustrative embodiment the network infrastructure element sends the message and the instantiated ringtone to the terminal, while in a second illustrative embodiment the network infrastructure element sends the message and the property values to the terminal, and the terminal plays a locally-stored ringtone in accordance with the property values.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/241,900, filed Sep. 30, 2008, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/894,752, filed 20 Jul. 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,693,553, issued Apr. 6, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/882,042, filed 30 Jun. 2004, nowabandoned. The content of these are incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to telecommunications in general, and,more particularly, to techniques for intelligently notifying the user ofa telecommunications terminal of the arrival of a message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts telecommunications system 100 comprisingtelecommunications terminal 105 (e.g., a wireless telephone, a wirelinetelephone, a personal digital assistant [PDA], etc.) and network 120(e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN], a cellular wirelessnetwork, a wireless local-area network, etc.) in accordance with theprior art. Telecommunications terminal 105 is capable of receivingmessages (e.g., voice telephone calls, email messages, instant messages[IM], Short Message Service [SMS] messages, Multimedia Message Service[MMS] messages, etc.) from other telecommunications terminals vianetwork 120. When telecommunications terminal 105 receives a message, itnotifies the user of the terminal of the arrival of the message byplaying a “ringtone” (e.g., a tune, a series of beeps, etc.) via speaker110 and by displaying visual information (e.g., text, an image, etc.)via display 111. Telecommunications terminal 105 might play a particularringtone for all incoming messages, or a ringtone that is associatedwith a category of callers (e.g., a ringtone for business contacts, aringtone for friends, a ringtone for family members, etc.), or aringtone that is associated with an individual caller, etc. Similarly,telecommunications terminal 105 might display a text message (e.g.,“Incoming Call”, “Incoming Call: Mom”, “Incoming Call: 555-555-5555”,etc.) or an image (e.g., an animated icon of a ringing telephone, aphoto of the caller, etc.), or both, to indicate that there is anincoming message.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative block diagram of the salient componentsof network 120 in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, network 120comprises a plurality of network infrastructure elements 201-i for i=1to 4, interconnected as shown. Each network infrastructure element 201-imight be a switch, a private branch exchange (PBX), a wireless basestation, a wireless switching center, a server, etc., depending on thetype and topology of network 120. As will be understood by those skilledin the art, although all network infrastructure elements are denoted bythe same prefix 201, element 201-1 might be a switch, while element201-2 might be a wireless base station, etc. Similarly, the fact thatnetwork 120 has four elements 201 in FIG. 2 is merely illustrative;network 120 might have fewer elements or a greater number of elementsthan that depicted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention enables a telecommunications terminal to notifyits user of the arrival of a message via an acoustic or visual signalwhose properties are based on one or more attributes of the message. Inparticular, in the illustrative embodiments a network infrastructureelement (e.g., a switch, a wireless base station, a server, etc.) thatreceives a message directed to a telecommunications terminal sets thevalues of one or more properties of a ringtone (e.g., tempo, volume,pitch, rhythm, etc.) based on one or more attributes of an incomingmessage (e.g., who the sender of the message is, a priority associatedwith the message, a subject associated with the message, the semanticcontent of the message, the location from which the message was sent,etc.). For example, if a telecommunications terminal plays the Beatlessong “Hello Goodbye” when a message arrives, the song might be played ina variety of ways, depending on attributes of the message:

-   -   at a faster tempo when the message has a high priority,    -   at a louder volume when the subject of an email contains the        word “urgent,”    -   as a piano version when the caller (i.e., the sender of the        message) is pianist Murray Perahia,    -   with minor-mode instead of major-mode harmonies when the text of        an email contains a frowning smiley [i.e., a “:(” character        combination],    -   with a female voice singing instead of a male voice when the        caller is Gloria Steinem,    -   with lyrics sung in French when the call originates from France,        or    -   with a Latin rhythm when the caller is Julio Iglesias.        As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, modifying        the values of properties such as volume and tempo does not        change the fundamental identity of the song. In other words, the        melody of the song is independent of these properties and thus        the song remains recognizable.

In the first illustrative embodiment, when a network infrastructureelement receives a message for sending to a telecommunications terminal,the element sends a signal that represents an instance of a ringtone(e.g., an audio clip, a Musical Instrument Digital Interface [MIDI]file, etc.) along with the message. The values of one or more musicalproperties of the ringtone instance, such as tempo, volume, pitch,rhythm, etc., are established based on one or more attributes of themessage (e.g., the identity of the sender, the priority of the messageetc.).

In the second illustrative embodiment, the network infrastructureelement determines property values for music (e.g., key signature equalsC major, metronome marking equals 140 beats per minute, etc.) based onone or more attributes of the message, and sends the property values,but not an instance of a ringtone, to the telecommunications terminalalong with the message. The telecommunications terminal then plays aringtone that is stored at the terminal in accordance with the receivedproperty values.

The illustrative embodiments of the present invention similarlyestablish property values of images (e.g., brightness, size, contrast,resolution, etc.) and of text strings (e.g., font size, font style,color, dynamic behavior such as flashing, etc.) that are displayed tonotify the user of an incoming message. For example, when a message witha high priority is received, a text notification might flash or might berendered in a bold font; a static image might be displayed at a higherbrightness; and an animated image might move at a faster speed. As inthe case of ringtones, in the first illustrative embodiment the networkinfrastructure element sends a signal that represents an instance of animage (e.g., a Joint Photographic Experts Group [JPEG] file, a GraphicsInterchange Format [GIF] file, etc.) to the telecommunications terminalalong with the message. The values of one or more properties of theimage instance are established based on one or more attributes of themessage (e.g., the identity of the sender, the priority of the message,etc.).

In the second illustrative embodiment, the network infrastructureelement determines property values for images (e.g., resolution equals100 by 120 pixels, saturation equals 90%, etc.) based on one or moreattributes of the message, and sends the property values, but not aninstance of an image, to the telecommunications terminal along with themessage. The telecommunications terminal then displays an image that isstored at the terminal in accordance with the received property values.

For text notifications, both the first and second illustrativeembodiments send one or more property values of text with the message(i.e., no text is sent), and the telecommunications terminal displaysthe appropriate text string in accordance with the received propertyvalues.

The illustrative embodiment comprises: (a) receiving at atelecommunications terminal (i) a message, and (ii) a first signalrepresenting an instance of a musical composition; and (b) outputting anacoustic second signal based on said first signal to notify the user ofsaid telecommunications terminal of the arrival of said message; whereinthe value of a property of said instance is based on an attribute ofsaid message; and wherein said property is a property of music that isindependent of melody.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a telecommunications system in the prior art.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative block diagram of the salient componentsof network 120, as shown in FIG. 1, in the prior art.

FIG. 3 depicts a telecommunications system in accordance with theillustrative embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative block diagram of the salient componentsof network 320, as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the illustrativeembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of networkinfrastructure element 401-i, as shown in FIG. 4, in accordance with theillustrative embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of the salient components oftelecommunications terminal 305, as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance withthe illustrative embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of networkinfrastructure element 401-i, as shown in FIG. 4, in accordance with thefirst illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 730, as shown in FIG. 7, inaccordance with the first illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 740, as shown in FIG. 7, inaccordance with the first illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 750, as shown in FIG. 7, inaccordance with the first illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of telecommunicationsterminal 305, as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the firstillustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of networkinfrastructure element 401-i, as shown in FIG. 4, in accordance with thesecond illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1230, as shown in FIG. 12,in accordance with the second illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1240, as shown in FIG. 12,in accordance with the second illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1250, as shown in FIG. 12,in accordance with the second illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of telecommunicationsterminal 305, as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the secondillustrative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The term appearing below is given the following definition for use inthis Description and the appended Claims.

For the purposes of the specification and claims, the term “musicalcomposition” is defined as either a piece of music or a sound effect(e.g., one or more beeps, etc.).

FIG. 3 depicts telecommunications system 300 in accordance with theillustrative embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3,telecommunications system 300 comprises telecommunications terminal 305and network 320.

Telecommunications terminal 305 is a wireless telephone, a wirelinetelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. that is capable ofreceiving messages (e.g., voice telephone calls, email messages, ShortMessage Service [SMS] messages, etc.) from other telecommunicationsterminals via network 320, and of notifying its user of the arrival of amessage as described below and with respect to FIGS. 11 and 16. As shownin FIG. 3, telecommunications terminal 305 comprises speaker 310 anddisplay 311. Speaker 310, like speaker 110 of telecommunicationsterminal 105, is capable of generating acoustic signals (e.g.,ringtones, etc.) in well-known fashion, and display 311, like display111 of telecommunications terminal 105, is capable of displaying visualsignals (e.g., text, images, etc.) in well-known fashion.

Network 320 is a communications network (e.g., the Public SwitchedTelephone Network [PSTN], a cellular wireless network, a wirelesslocal-area network, etc.) that sends messages to telecommunicationsterminal 305 as described below and with respect to FIGS. 7 through 10and FIGS. 12 through 15.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative block diagram of the salient componentsof network 320 in accordance with the illustrative embodiments of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 4, network 320 comprises a pluralityof network infrastructure elements 401-i for i=1 to 4, interconnected asshown. Each network infrastructure element 401-i (e.g., a switch, aprivate branch exchange (PBX), a wireless base station, a wirelessswitching center, a server, etc.) is capable of sending messages totelecommunications terminal 305 (either directly or via one or moreother network infrastructure elements 401, depending on what kind ofelement it is) as described below and with respect to FIGS. 7 through 10and FIGS. 12 through 15. As in the case of FIG. 2, the fact that FIG. 4depicts network 320 with four elements 401 is merely illustrative.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of networkinfrastructure element 401-i in accordance with the illustrativeembodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, networkinfrastructure element 401-i comprises receiver 501, processor 502,memory 503, and transmitter 504, interconnected as shown.

Receiver 501 receives signals from one or both of telecommunicationsterminal 305 and other elements 401, depending on the type of element401-i is, and forwards the information encoded in these signals toprocessor 502 in well-known fashion. It will be clear to those skilledin the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use receiver501.

Processor 502 is a general-purpose processor that is capable of readingdata from and writing data into memory 503 and of executing the tasksdescribed below and with respect to FIGS. 7 through 10 and FIGS. 12through 15. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention,processor 502 might be a special-purpose processor. In either case, itwill be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading thisdisclosure, how to make and use processor 502.

Memory 503 stores data and executable instructions, as is well-known inthe art, and might be any combination of random-access memory (RAM),flash memory, disk drive, etc. It will be clear to those skilled in theart, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use memory 503.

Transmitter 504 receives information from processor 502 and transmitssignals that encode this information to one or both oftelecommunications terminal 305 and other elements 401, depending on thetype of element 401-i is, in well-known fashion. It will be clear tothose skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make anduse transmitter 504.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of the salient components oftelecommunications terminal 305, in accordance with the illustrativeembodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6,telecommunications terminal 305 comprises receiver 601, processor 602,memory 603, transmitter 604, speaker 310, and display 311,interconnected as shown.

Receiver 601 is capable of receiving signals sent from network 320 andof forwarding the information encoded in these signals to processor 602,in well-known fashion. It will be clear to those skilled in the art,after reading this disclosure, how to make and use receiver 601.

Processor 602 is a general-purpose processor that is capable of readingdata from and writing data into memory 603, of sending signals tospeaker 310 and display 311 in well-known fashion, and of executing thetasks described below and with respect to FIGS. 11 and 16. In somealternative embodiments of the present invention, processor 602 might bea special-purpose processor. In either case, it will be clear to thoseskilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and useprocessor 602.

Memory 603 stores data and executable instructions, as is well-known inthe art, and might be any combination of random-access memory (RAM),flash memory, disk drive, etc. It will be clear to those skilled in theart, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use memory 603.

Transmitter 604 is capable of receiving information from processor 602and of transmitting signals that encode this information to network 320in well-known fashion. It will be clear to those skilled in the art,after reading this disclosure, how to make and use transmitter 604.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of networkinfrastructure element 401-i in accordance with the first illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. For any given message sent totelecommunications terminal 305, the method of FIG. 7 need only beperformed by one of the network infrastructure elements 401-i in the(potentially multi-hop) path from the message sender totelecommunications terminal 305. (For example, the method might beperformed only by edge switches, or only by wireless base stations,etc.) It will be clear to those skilled in the art which tasks depictedin FIG. 7 can be performed simultaneously or in a different order thanthat depicted.

At task 710, receiver 501 of network infrastructure element 401-ireceives a message directed to telecommunications terminal 305 andforwards the message to processor 502, in well-known fashion.

At task 720, processor 502 determines what musical composition (i.e.,ringtone) and/or what image will be used to notify the user oftelecommunications terminal 305 of the arrival of the message. In someembodiments the user of telecommunications terminal 305 might benotified via the same musical composition and image for all incomingmessages, while in some other embodiments musical compositions andimages might be associated with categories of callers, while in stillsome other embodiments each individual caller might have an associatedmusical composition and image, etc. As will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art, in some embodiments these ringtone and image “rules”might be specified by the user of telecommunications terminal 305 anduploaded to memory 503 of network infrastructure element 401-i, while insome other embodiments the calling terminal might automaticallypiggyback a ringtone and/or image on outgoing messages, etc.

At task 730, processor 502 sets the values of one or more properties ofthe musical composition that was determined at task 720 based on one ormore attributes of the message, as described in detail below and withrespect to FIG. 8.

At task 740, processor 502 sets the values of one or more properties ofthe image that was determined at task 720 based on one or moreattributes of the incoming message, as described in detail below andwith respect to FIG. 9.

At task 750, processor 502 determines the values of one or moreproperties of text based on one or more attributes of the incomingmessage, as described in detail below and with respect to FIG. 10.

At task 760, processor 502 forwards the message, a file comprising themusical composition as “instantiated” at task 730 (e.g., an audio clip,a Musical Instrument Digital Interface [MIDI] file, etc.), the image asinstantiated at task 740, and the text property values determined attask 750 to transmitter 504 for sending to telecommunications terminal305, in well-known fashion. After task 760, the method of FIG. 7terminates.

FIG. 8 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 730 in accordance with thefirst illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will be clearto those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 8 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 810, processor 502 sets the volume of the musical compositionbased on one or more attributes of the message such as the identity ofthe sender of the message, a priority associated with the message, asubject associated with the message, the semantic content of themessage, the location from which the message was sent (if suchinformation is available), etc. As will be appreciated by those skilledin the art, the logic by which processor 502 sets the volume of themusical composition might be specified by a network service provider, bythe user of telecommunications terminal and uploaded to networkinfrastructure element 401-i, etc.

At task 820, processor 502 sets the tempo of the musical compositionbased on one or more attributes of the message.

At task 830, processor 502 sets the pitch (i.e., key signature) of themusical composition based on one or more attributes of the message.

At task 840, processor 502 sets the timbre (e.g., the musical instrumentplaying the composition, etc.) of the musical composition based on oneor more attributes of the message.

At task 850, processor 502 sets the values of additional properties ofthe musical composition (e.g., harmony, rhythm, gender for vocal music,language for vocal music, etc.) based on one or more attributes of themessage. After task 850, execution continues at task 740.

FIG. 9 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 740 in accordance with thefirst illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will be clearto those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 9 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 910, processor 502 sets the size of the image based on one ormore attributes of the message such as the identity of the sender of themessage, a priority associated with the message, a subject associatedwith the message, the semantic content of the message, the location fromwhich the message was sent (if such information is available), etc.

At task 920, processor 502 sets the brightness of the image based on oneor more attributes of the message.

At task 930, processor 502 sets the contrast of the image based on oneor more attributes of the message.

At task 940, processor 502 sets the resolution of the image based on oneor more attributes of the message.

At task 950, processor 502 sets the values of additional properties ofthe image (e.g., hue, saturation, position on display 311, speed ofanimation, etc.) based on one or more attributes of the message. Aftertask 950, execution continues at task 750.

FIG. 10 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 750 in accordance with thefirst illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will be clearto those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 10 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 1010, processor 502 determines the text font based on one ormore attributes of the message such as the identity of the sender of themessage, a priority associated with the message, a subject associatedwith the message, the semantic content of the message, the location fromwhich the message was sent (if such information is available), etc.

At task 1020, processor 502 determines the font style (e.g., bold,italics, etc.) based on one or more attributes of the message.

At task 1030, processor 502 determines the font size based on one ormore attributes of the message.

At task 1040, processor 502 determines the text color based on one ormore attributes of the message.

At task 1050, processor 502 determines the values of additionalproperties of the text (e.g., background color, position on display 311,dynamic behavior, speed of dynamic behavior, etc.) based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1060, processor 502 builds a text property-value list based ontasks 1010 through 1050, in well-known fashion. After task 1060,execution continues at task 760.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of telecommunicationsterminal 305 in accordance with the first illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention.

At task 1110, receiver 601 of telecommunications terminal 305 receives amessage, a musical composition, an image, and a text property-value listand forwards them to processor 602, in well-known fashion.

At task 1120, telecommunications terminal 305 plays the musicalcomposition through speaker 311, in well-known fashion.

At task 1130, telecommunications terminal 305 renders the image indisplay 310, in well-known fashion.

At task 1140, telecommunications terminal 305 determines what textstring to display to notify its user of the incoming message, in thesame fashion as telecommunications terminal 105 in the prior art.

At task 1150, telecommunications terminal 305 renders the text string oftask 1140 in display 310 in accordance with the text property-value listreceived at task 1110, in well-known fashion. After task 1150, themethod of FIG. 11 terminates.

FIG. 12 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of networkinfrastructure element 401-i in accordance with the second illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. In the second illustrativeembodiment, network infrastructure element 401-i does not determinewhich ringtone and/or image is used to notify the user oftelecommunications terminal 305. Network infrastructure element 401-ionly determines the property values for the ringtone and the image,while telecommunications terminal 305 determines which ringtone (storedlocally) to play and which image (stored locally) to display. As in thefirst illustrative embodiment, network infrastructure element 401-idetermines the property values for text used to notify the user oftelecommunications terminal 305 of the incoming message, but not thetext itself.

In addition, as in the first illustrative embodiment the method of FIG.12 need only be performed by one of the network infrastructure elements401-i in the (potentially multi-hop) path from the sender of a messageto telecommunications terminal 305. It will be clear to those skilled inthe art which tasks depicted in FIG. 12 can be performed simultaneouslyor in a different order than that depicted.

At task 1210, receiver 501 of network infrastructure element 401-ireceives a message directed to telecommunications terminal 305 andforwards the message to processor 502, in well-known fashion.

At task 1220, processor 502 builds a property-value list comprisingvalues for one or more properties of music based on one or moreattributes of the message, as described in detail below and with respectto FIG. 13.

At task 1230, processor 502 builds a property-value list comprisingvalues for one or more properties of images based on one or moreattributes of the message, as described in detail below and with respectto FIG. 14.

At task 1240, processor 502 builds a property-value list comprisingvalues for one or more properties of text based on one or moreattributes of the message, as described in detail below and with respectto FIG. 15.

At task 1250, processor 502 forwards the message and the property-valuelists of tasks 1220 through 1240 to transmitter 504 for sending totelecommunications terminal 305, in well-known fashion. After task 1250,the method of FIG. 12 terminates.

FIG. 13 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1220 in accordance with thesecond illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will beclear to those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 13 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 1310, processor 502 determines volume based on one or moreattributes of the message such as the identity of the sender of themessage, a priority associated with the message, a subject associatedwith the message, the semantic content of the message, the location fromwhich the message was sent (if such information is available), etc.

At task 1320, processor 502 determines tempo based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1330, processor 502 determines pitch (i.e., key signature) basedon one or more attributes of the message.

At task 1340, processor 502 determines timbre (e.g., the musicalinstrument playing the composition, etc.) based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1350, processor 502 determines the values of additionalproperties of music (e.g., harmony, rhythm, gender for vocal music,language for vocal music, etc.) based on one or more attributes of themessage.

At task 1360, processor 502 builds a property-value list based on tasks1310 through 1350. After task 1360, execution continues at task 1230.

FIG. 14 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1230 in accordance with thesecond illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will beclear to those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 9 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 1410, processor 502 determines image size based on one or moreattributes of the message such as the identity of the sender of themessage, a priority associated with the message, a subject associatedwith the message, the semantic content of the message, the location fromwhich the message was sent (if such information is available), etc.

At task 1420, processor 502 determines brightness based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1430, processor 502 determines contrast based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1440, processor 502 determines resolution based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1450, processor 502 determines the values of additionalproperties of images (e.g., hue, saturation, position on display 311,speed of animation, etc.) based on one or more attributes of themessage.

At task 1460, processor 502 builds a property-value list based on tasks1410 through 1450. After task 1460, execution continues at task 1240.

FIG. 15 depicts a detailed flowchart of task 1240 in accordance with thesecond illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It will beclear to those skilled in the art which tasks depicted in FIG. 15 can beperformed simultaneously or in a different order than that depicted.

At task 1510, processor 502 determines the text font based on one ormore attributes of the message such as the identity of the sender of themessage, a priority associated with the message, a subject associatedwith the message, the semantic content of the message, the location fromwhich the message was sent (if such information is available), etc.

At task 1520, processor 502 determines the font style (e.g., bold,italics, etc.) based on one or more attributes of the message.

At task 1530, processor 502 determines the font size based on one ormore attributes of the message.

At task 1540, processor 502 determines the text color based on one ormore attributes of the message.

At task 1550, processor 502 determines the values of additionalproperties of text (e.g., background color, position on display 311,dynamic behavior, speed of dynamic behavior, etc.) based on one or moreattributes of the message.

At task 1560, processor 502 builds a property-value list based on tasks1510 through 1550, in well-known fashion. After task 1560, executioncontinues at task 1250.

FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks of telecommunicationsterminal 305 in accordance with the second illustrative embodiment ofthe present invention.

At task 1610, receiver 601 of telecommunications terminal 305 receives amessage, a musical property-value list, an image property-value list,and a text property-value list and forwards them to processor 602, inwell-known fashion.

At task 1620, processor 602 determines what musical composition to playto notify the user of the arrival of the message, in the same fashion astelecommunications terminal 105 in the prior art.

At task 1630, processor 602 sends a signal to speaker 311 to play themusical composition of task 1620 in accordance with the musicalproperty-value list received at task 1610, in well-known fashion.

At task 1640, processor 602 determines what image to display to notifythe user of the arrival of the message, in the same fashion astelecommunications terminal 105 in the prior art.

At task 1650, processor 602 sends a signal to display 310 to render theimage of task 1640 in accordance with the image property-value listreceived at task 1610, in well-known fashion.

At task 1660, processor 602 determines what text string to display tonotify the user of the arrival of the message, in the same fashion astelecommunications terminal 105 in the prior art.

At task 1670, processor 602 sends a signal to display 310 to render thetext string of task 1660 in accordance with the text property-value listreceived at task 1610, in well-known fashion. After task 1670, themethod of FIG. 16 terminates.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merelyillustrative of the present invention and that many variations of theabove-described embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in thisSpecification, numerous specific details are provided in order toprovide a thorough description and understanding of the illustrativeembodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art willrecognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one ormore of those details, or with other methods, materials, components,etc.

Furthermore, in some instances, well-known structures, materials, oroperations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuringaspects of the illustrative embodiments. It is understood that thevarious embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrative, and are notnecessarily drawn to scale. Reference throughout the specification to“one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “some embodiments” means that aparticular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment(s) is included in at least one embodimentof the present invention, but not necessarily all embodiments.Consequently, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment,” “in anembodiment,” or “in some embodiments” in various places throughout theSpecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, orcharacteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. It is therefore intended that such variations be includedwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at acommunications terminal, a message and an indication of a property of atext, wherein the property of the text is one of a font size, a fonttype, a font style, a position, a brightness value, a text color, abackground color, a manner in which an appearance of the text changes,and a speed at which the appearance of the text changes, and wherein theproperty is associated with an attribute of the message; and displaying,at the communications terminal, a text string as a notification ofreceipt of the message, wherein the text string is modified based on theindication of the property of the text.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the font style is one of bold, italicized, underlined, andstrike-through.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute of themessage is one of an identity of a sender of the message, a usercategory associated with the sender of the message, a priorityassociated with the message, a subject associated with the message, asemantic content of the message, and a location from which the messageoriginates.
 4. A system comprising: a processor; and a computer-readablestorage device storing instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:receiving, at a telecommunications network infrastructure element, amessage directed to a communications terminal; determining, at thetelecommunications network infrastructure element, a property of a textbased on an attribute of the message, wherein the property of the textis one of a font size, a font type, a font style, a position, abrightness value, a text color, a background color, a manner in which anappearance of the text changes, and a speed at which the appearance ofthe text changes; and sending, from the telecommunications networkinfrastructure element, the message and the property of the text to thecommunications terminal.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the fontstyle is one of bold, italicized, underlined, and strike-through.
 6. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the attribute of the message is one of anidentity of a sender of the message, a user category associated with thesender of the message, a priority associated with the message, a subjectassociated with the message, a semantic content of the message, and alocation from which the message originates.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving, at a communications terminal, a message and anindication of a property of a text, wherein the indication is associatedwith the message, wherein the property of the text is one of a fontsize, a font type, a font style, a position, a brightness value, a textcolor, a background color, a manner in which an appearance of the textchanges, and a speed at which the appearance of the text changes; anddisplaying, at the communications terminal, a text string as anotification of receipt of the message, wherein a property of the textstring is modified based on the indication of the property of the text.8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the fontstyle is one of bold, italicized, underlined, and strike-through.
 9. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the attribute ofthe message is one of an identity of a sender of the message, a usercategory associated with the sender of the message, a priorityassociated with the message, a subject associated with the message, asemantic content of the message, and a location from which the messageoriginates.